


Homecoming

by Demi_jos10



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Bonding, Fluff, Found Family, M/M, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-05
Updated: 2018-10-05
Packaged: 2019-07-25 18:03:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 862
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16202768
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Demi_jos10/pseuds/Demi_jos10
Summary: Andrew and Neil pay Wymack a visit after they've been recruited to a professional team.





	Homecoming

Neil hadn’t realized, though perhaps he should have, just how busy he would be on a professional team. It didn’t help his impression that Andrew made the drive from Boston down to see him at least once every two weeks.

So, when Neil looks up one day and realizes it’s been almost six months since he last visited Wymack, he’s a bit surprised. Championships have just ended, though, with Neil and Andrew’s team beating Kevin’s by a slim margin, so Neil decides this is the perfect time to drop by.

Andrew doesn’t protest, so Neil knows he’d like to visit Bee. Neil doesn’t mind. He’s still not comfortable with therapists as a rule, but he’s seen how much Bee has helped Andrew, and has come to value her as a friend instead.

They drive down on Friday and have dinner with Betsy, then get a hotel room a reasonable distance from campus. Neil still isn’t used to initiating phone contact, so they go to bed without telling Wymack about their visit.

The next morning they sleep in, Andrew refusing to move until nearly eleven. That’s when Neil finally bribes him with promises of IHOP for brunch.

They don’t make it to campus until just before afternoon practice should be starting, and Neil is struck with the sudden urge to join and play on the Foxhole Court again. Andrew only rolls his eyes when Neil says so, but he follows Neil into the locker room, so Neil counts it as a win.

They don’t see Wymack on the way in, or when the newer Foxes who haven’t met them start clamoring for autographs, or when they follow the Foxes onto the court wearing extra gear and their old jerseys. Wymack doesn’t come out of his office until they’ve finished warmups and have started a scrimmage at the instruction of the current captain, James something or other.

Neil is a bit surprised Wymack lets them keep playing, but he isn’t going to complain if it lets him play for a bit longer. The kids put him and Andrew on opposing teams, eager to see how two professional athletes play against each other, and Neil is eager to comply. Andrew, on the other hand, only bothers to put in effort when Neil is the one trying to score on him.

When Neil passes he can see Wymack getting more and more annoyed, a familiar and nostalgic sight. It isn’t until Andrew catches a shot that would have missed and redirects it into the goal that Wymack snaps.

“Damnit, Minyard, can’t you take this seriously for once?” Wymack shouts through the thick plexiglass, then seems to freeze. Neil isn’t sure why he looks surprised, he and Andrew have been here the whole time.

Andrew just stares blankly at Wymack and then very slowly sits down in front of the goal and puts his racket on the floor. Wymack still looks confused, and slowly moves his head to look at where Neil is standing near the goal, ready to make the next shot.

Wymack opens the door to the court, then, and marches over to Neil. Neil tracks his progress but doesn’t move forward to meet him. Wymack stops about three feet away from Neil.

“What are you doing on my court?” Wymack asks. To anyone else he would sound angry, but Neil knows better.

“Playing exy,” Neil says, because it’s obvious.

“Yes, but why on _my_ court?” Wymack asks.

“Because we’re visiting,” Neil says. “What else were we supposed to do?”

“Tell me you were stopping by?” Wymack offers. “Text? Call? Email? Send a carrier pigeon?”

“Carrier pigeons went extinct in 1914,” Andrew says from his seat in front of the goal.

“I saw a pigeon yesterday, I could have tied a letter to it,” Neil says.

Wymack gives him a look, then claps him on the shoulder. “It’s good to see you, kid,” he says, finally. He sounds a bit choked up, but Neil doesn’t know how to handle that, so he ignores it instead.

“You, too, Coach,” Neil says, fingers flexing around his racket. “Can we get back to playing now?”

“I’m not letting Minyard keep playing if he’s just going to sit there,” Wymack says, and Andrew immediately stands up and walks off the court. Neil knows that’s something he’s wanted to do since he got recruited, so he doesn’t begrudge him his fun.

Wymack follows Andrew out and locks the door behind him, and Neil throws himself back into the game.

Wymack ends up pulling him off when he scores 12 times on their freshman goalie in less than half an hour. Neil is disappointed, but he understands. He’s too much of a challenge for a goalie who hasn’t been playing against college teams for more than a year.

Wymack also kicks the current Foxes out of practice nearly an hour early, prying a promise from Neil that they would meet him at Abby’s for dinner.

They leave the next day, after having lunch with Wymack, Abby, and Betsy. By the time they reach the apartment they share in Boston, Neil feels more settled, a tension he hadn’t been aware of eased.

**Author's Note:**

> I ended up giving up near the end because I'm bad at writing conclusions, but other than that I'm pretty proud of this one. Find me on tumblr @demi-jos10


End file.
